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The goal of speech therapy is to help your child communicate effectively with other people across all environments. This may take the form of using gestures, simple signs, verbal speech, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Some other common things speech therapists can help with:

• Nonverbal skills, such as signs or gestures
• Forming speech in a clearer way
• Communicating thoughts and feelings clearly
• Understanding and responding to questions
• Discerning facial expressions and their corresponding emotions
• Noticing and understanding body language
• Feeding and swallowing
• Stuttering

Yes, a psychiatrist is a good person to speak with regarding medication for your child. While you might have an idea of what might work for your child, it’s best to have a conversation with a medical professional, such as a psychiatrist. What works for one autistic child may not work for another, so consider your child’s individual needs and goals. 

If you’d like to explore prescription medications or supplements for your child, weigh your options and concerns with your child’s medical team and create a plan. Discuss developments and side effects with your child’s doctor and adjust as needed.

When you visit a neurologist, they’ll assess your child’s needs, run some tests (think imaging or EEG), and diagnose. From there, they’ll create a customized treatment plan. Medication, lifestyle tweaks, or maybe even a referral to another specialist could be on the table.

There unfortunately isn’t one test for all neurodevelopmental conditions. Most likely you will go into a visit to test one or two medical conditions. If you are looking for a comprehensive autism evaluation, developmental pediatricians, psychologists, or neuropsychologists are the preferred specialists who can diagnose autism.

No, neurologists focus mainly on non-surgical interventions. If your child needs surgery, neurologists might point you in the direction of a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Music therapy can take place in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, the child’s own home, rehabilitation centers, and clinics.

A therapy session will vary from child to child, depending on the child’s specific needs. Before your child starts music therapy, their music therapist will develop a personalized treatment plan for your child. Depending on your child’s goals their treatment may involve singing, dancing, listening to music, playing an instrument, or even composing music.

Once you find a music therapist, the therapist will perform an evaluation to determine if music therapy is a good fit for your child as well as determine possible goals. The evaluation will be comprehensive and look at your child’s response to a variety of musical stimuli, including giving your child an opportunity to play with instruments or listen to a variety of music types.

Evaluations will vary based on setting. For example, private practice has a number of evaluation tools while schools typically use an evaluation tool called the SEMTAP (special education music therapy assessment protocol) that focuses on looking at a student’s IEP goals and how or if the addition of music aligns with their IEP goals.

The occupational therapy process includes an OT evaluation before care starts. Here are the four steps your family can expect when starting occupational therapy:

1. Complete OT evaluation. An occupational therapist first identifies your strengths and needs through a thorough OT evaluation, also known as an OT assessment or screening. You’ll answer questions about you your skills, and you will most likely demonstrate these skills via hands-on activities with the therapist. Evaluations can last 30 minutes to a couple hours.
2. Approve OT plan. The therapist develops a care plan with individualized goals and customized interventions based on your needs. You can also share any specific goals or concerns before approving the OT plan.
3. Start therapy sessions. The therapist works directly with you, using various strategies and exercises to systematically improve areas of limitations and to build upon your strengths. If there are others part of your care team, the therapist may teach strategies for supporting your individualized needs at home and may recommend tools and techniques to use at home, in the community, or in the classroom to help you thrive.
4. Monitor your progress. You can expect ongoing progress monitoring and communication to ensure you're achieving your short and long-term goals.

Here are a few things you will want to discuss with a potential respite worker: (Keep in mind that the most important step is to observe how the respite worker interacts with your child and your family.)

• Do they have work experience with children with autism?
• How will the respite worker support your child in a group setting?
• Do they have concerns about taking this job?